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Take a look at Black Veil Brides and you might conclude that what sets this Los Angeles quintet apart from its peers is the band’s outré image—think guyliner, mile-high hairdos and more ripped mesh than on a junior varsity basketball team. According to rhythm guitarist Jinxx, though, the Brides’ visual flair is actually less distinctive than its sound, which he says bears the evidence of his study as a classical violinist. “I’m a huge fan of baroque music, and I use it in our breakdowns and our interludes,” Jinxx explains. “You can hear little riffs and harmonies in there that were influenced by Bach’s Inventions. A lot of bands calling themselves metal or hardcore right now, there’s nothing all that musical about what they do. That’s why we’re different. We’re not afraid to be adventurous.”

Nor are they afraid of pop. On We Stitch These Wounds, Black Veil Brides’ recently released debut, Jinxx and his bandmates (including lead guitarist Jake Pitts) use those highbrow elements to spruce up super-catchy glam-metal jams that wouldn’t turn off an old-school Mötley Crüe fan. (Perversely, they save their handsomest melody for “The Mortician’s Daughter.”) Jinxx and Pitts joined the band last year at the behest of frontman Andy Six, but Jinxx claims they’ve already established a nearly telepathic rapport. “One of us will start a riff and then the other will finish it,” he says. Pitts cites Synyster Gates and Zacky Vengeance of Avenged Sevenfold as a model six-string team.

Not unlike Avenged, Black Veil Brides have attracted huge interest online, where the band’s video for “Knives and Pens” has racked up over 16 million views on YouTube. Not all of the attention is positive, of course: “Dis song suks dikhole,” wrote one user rather memorably. But Pitts isn’t worried. “People either love or hate this band,” he says. “Either way, they’re talking about us.”